This invention relates to handling items such as stacks or clips of facial tissues and more particularly to configuring such clips for cartoning such as for placement into particular cartons.
In the past, such tissues are produced in select count stacks or xe2x80x9cclipsxe2x80x9d comprising one flat tissue lying atop another in an elongated flat shaped stack being generally longer than it is wide. This configuration is okay for flat shaped carton packaging; the clip is simply pushed endwise from a cartoner bucket into the box. Typically, the box has at least one major panel generally parallel with the tissues and an opening in the panel provides access for tissue removal for use. On the other hand, upright, cubic or boutique cartons are more confining. The clip must be bent into a U-shape and thusly configured, pushed sideways into the boutique carton which appears more like a cube than the rectangular shape of the flat carton. In these boutique cartons, a major panel adjacent the bend in the confined clip is provided with an opening for accessing the tissues for withdrawal and use.
In the past, when changing a product line or output from a flat carton to a boutique carton, there were two options. A first option was for the manufacturer to simply purchase two cartoning machines. One would handle a flat pack or cartoning process and another would handle a boutique or upright cartoning process. Of course, this involved the cost of an extra machine.
Alternately, if a single machine was used to produce filled flat cartons and boutique cartons, the machine would be stopped and many changeover parts added to reconfigure the machine to render it operable for properly configuring the clip for the new carton. This resulted in production downtime and significant expense for changeover parts.
More particularly, it will be appreciated that when filling flat cartons, flat clips are simply pushed longwise into the carton through an open end of the carton. End flaps are then closed to produce a finished carton or tissue box. When boutique or upright cartons are used, however, the clips are bent into a U-shape which is then pushed sideways into an open-sided boutique carton, which is then closed to produce a finished boutique carton or tissue box.
Generally, the clips in either case are received in individual buckets of a bucket conveyor, and, in appropriate configuration, are loaded into cartons moving along a machine direction, in phased relation to the buckets. A transfer guide bucket conveyor is typically interposed between the first mentioned buckets and the cartons for receiving and guiding the configured clip as it is pushed transversely from the bucket into the carton.
It will be appreciated from this description that the respective clips must be oriented in the buckets for transfer into the cartons in two different directions. For elongated flat clips, their elongated dimension should lie transversely across the buckets, perpendicular to the machine direction of the bucket conveyor, for endwise motion transversely across the bucket, toward and into the flat cartons. For boutique configured, U-shape clips, which are moved sideways transversely off the buckets into the boutique cartons, their elongated dimension should lie parallel to the machine direction of the bucket conveyor as they are moved into the cartoner. Thus, the clips for flat cartons are oriented longitudinally at 90 degrees to the longitudinal position of the clips configured for boutique cartons.
Accordingly, any machine which is changed over to handle both type clips or cartons must be provided with a variety of parts to produce proper clip orientation and handling, essentially for conveying boutique configured clips with their elongated dimension parallel to the machine direction or flat configured clips at 90 degrees or perpendicular to the machine direction.
Accordingly, it has been one objective of the invention to provide a single, improved tissue handling apparatus and methods for tissue clips of varied configuration.
It has been a further objective of the invention to produce an improved handling apparatus and methods for tissue cartoning which handles both flat and boutique configured clips, but without extensive downtime and with a minimum number of change parts.
It has been a further objective of the invention to provide improved apparatus and methods for turning tissue clips for proper orientation for insertion into flat cartons and for selectively transporting tissue clips for loading into boutique cartons.
It has been a further objective of the invention to provide improved methods and apparatus for handling differently configured tissue clips on the same handling apparatus with only minimal changeover parts.
To these ends, a preferred embodiment of the invention contemplates use of a bucket conveyor wherein the buckets have a floor and a transverse channel disposed in the floor. The channel has a length which extends in a direction across the floor and a width which is wider than the side-to-side width of the clips, but shorter than the length of the clips. According to the invention, all clips of whatever final configuration they may assume, are fed into the buckets with their elongated length oriented in a downstream direction parallel to the machine direction of the buckets. In this position, the clips span over the transverse channels in the respective buckets.
When it is desired to fill flat cartons with a flat clip, the clip is turned so that it extends across the bucket parallel to the transverse channel. This turning causes the flat clip to fall into the channel. From there, it can then be pushed transversely and endwise into a flat carton.
When it is desired to fill a boutique or upright carton, the clip is maintained in its original position spanning the channel, its length being longer than the channel is wide. A tamp or confiner is moved in over the clip and pushes an intermediate portion of the clip down into the channel into a U-shaped configuration with a central portion of the clip at least partially down in the channels and outer ends contacted by the bucket floor or the channel walls and being directed upwardly. From this position, the U-shaped clip may now be pushed transversely and sideways out of the bucket and into a boutique or upright carton.
In both cases, a preferred embodiment of the invention provides a transfer guide bucket conveyor between the transport bucket and the carton to confine or guide the traversing clip into a carton in appropriate configuration.
One difficultly in accomplishing the turning process of the flat clip so it falls into the channel is potential loss of control, allowing the clip to scramble, twist or otherwise diverge from its uniform stacked configuration. In order to turn and drop the clip and maintain it in appropriate alignment at the same time, the preferred embodiment of the invention contemplates two offset opposed pushers engaging side edges of the flat clip at offset longitudinal positions to carefully turn it and allow it to drop. The pushers may comprise plates extendable transversely into the buckets from opposite sides, and into and above the transverse channels. Ends of the pushers engage and twist or turn the clip. Once in alignment with the channel, the clips are aligned with internal facing sides of the pushers which configure and guide the clip through its fall into the channel.
Thereafter, the pushers are retracted and the clips are conveyed downstream to a cartoner where they can be pushed endwise transversely across the buckets, along the channels and into a flat carton. The channels are slightly wider than the side-to-side width of the clip so there is room for each pusher between a respective side of the clip and the adjacent channel wall.
The pushers thus control the flat clip edges, maintaining alignment of the tissues in the clip as they are turned into final position and drop into the channel for end loading. After turning and aligning the clip, the pushers are retracted and the buckets continue downstream in a machine direction, maintaining the position or condition of the clips for loading into cartons.
The pushers are preferably independently carried on barrel loader-like apparatus disposed on opposite sides of the bucket conveyor and are, of course, either stopped or disabled when it is desired to configure the clips for loading boutique cartons where the clips are not turned. No change parts are required for selectively turning or not turning the clips.
When the clips are conveyed downstream to the loading station of a cartoner, the clips are pushed transversely and endways into flat cartons from the buckets and through the transfer guide buckets, flat confiners or tamps descend over the clips to compress and hold them. When the clips are configured in U-shape for loading into boutique cartons, these flat confiners are changed out for narrow elongated tamps or confiners descending into the U-shaped clip""s center to configure confine and hold it while it is pushed transversely out of the bucket through the transfer guide bucket and into the boutique carton by, for example, a synchronized barrel loader. This constitutes only minimal changeover parts which can be fitted and released, as desired, by quick coupling mechanisms, thus reducing or eliminating any significant downtime.
In a further aspect of the invention, its particular application to tissue cartons as described, the pitch of the flat cartons may vary from that of the boutique cartons. This is accommodated by using independent servo drives for the bucket conveyors and transfer guide conveyors on the one hand and the carton conveyor on the other. Where both of the diverse pitches are accommodated in a standard cartoner machine pitch of, for example, 12 inches, it is only necessary to use one independent servo drive to appropriately phase the relative position of the carton conveyor and the bucket conveyor and associated barrel loader.
Accordingly, the invention provides a flexible, dual function improved tissue handling apparatus for easily configuring tissue clips for flat or boutique cartoning.